been awol - this n that

Hey there blogosphere. Don't ya hate it when life gets so busy?  Among other things here, it was report card time here in MoneyTree land...and the news, is ironic. Software programs are designed to do the tedious tasks for you and speed up efficiency.  Our school district, for reasons beyond what I understand, went with a program that is....non user friendly.  There are ridiculous amounts of 'overrides' we have to do before we can even start. Not hard by any stretch of the imagination, but time consuming tedium. 40 minutes for a subject when the end result should take 5. Marks that get submitted to the main system then disappear. Marks for things I haven't even assessed, just....appearing. My time would be much better spent focusing on the great things I can do with kids. But..it is what it is so and so forward we go.

The benefits of reading other PF blogs is that we learn about new ideas, new ways of looking at things...new apps. I found this simple, and FREE one called 'spending'. The app icon looks like a man's brown wallet. It lets you put in income and the different expense and gives you a pretty pie chart at the end of each spending period.

I have my jar money philosophy for groceries, fuel, spending and entertainment, but I often muddle money between those categories. I still stick with the 'end of the jar money, that's it til the end of the week' idea but I never really know how much I spent for each. I am terrible with some of those beautiful spreadsheets y'all do. This is a simpler. way.

I attached a snap pic of a week in February so you can see the chart.

 

As you can see, the ways I actually spent my $340 for a week went to groceries, kids, fuel, eating out, household and medicine. DS2 was away for curling that week so some spending money went to him. DS1 was away for hockey so some went to him. Medicine was my colitis meds as well as some cold/sinus meds. Fuel was for the week and mostly lasted, though fuel prices have gone up to $1.259.

Household was mundane things like TP, dish soap, and some cleaners.

 

You can use the app a few different ways. It does not require syncing it to bank accounts. I have zero desire to do that and many (great) apps out there require it, so this one made me happy.

 

It is hockey playoffs here so fingers crossed. This is DS's last hockey as a Junior player. Very bitter sweet so it would be nice if they could go far.  My niece was home with her two little ones. They live in Calgary and her almost 3 year old son is the same age DS1 was when he started going to hockey games with his dad.  He doesn't see us often and so he can be a little skittish. He was beyond excited to go to a real hockey game and cheer for his 'uncle'. I had DS1 come over to my mom's for a quick visit so the little guy could remember which 'uncle' this was. I had bought a little team jersey and put DS's name and number on the back. He gave it to the little guy and his face lit up. He held it, he tossed it gleefully into the air. He showed it to everyone. Couldn't get him to put it on for some reason. So his 1 year old sister wore it to the game. Looked like a little dress on her and everyone loved it. I think I had more fun watching THEM watch the game, than I did actually watching. "Go uncle!!! he screamed!! that guy is trying to steal your goal!!"

 

The weather has improved. It his plus temps after that cold snap.  Like +1 or +3 and ohhh the melting. Too fast. sewer systems can't keep up.

 

Today is supposed to be a glorious +6. I have the windows open (shhh don't tell DH) and it smells great. There is banana bread in the oven, stir fry for dinner and pulled pork has been in the crockpot since yesterday for today's supper.

 

It is amazing how have even little plus temps and daylight, precious daylight, in the morning on the way to school, can elevate one's mood.

 

Have a fantastic day everyone, and thanks for reading!